Car-coupling



(No Model.) J E E'ARLES,

GAR GOUPLING.

. Patented Nov, 2, 1,8855,

er (D9/'3M we@ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. EARLES, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION formingvpart'of Letters Patent No. 351,754, dated November2, 1886. i Application'led August 21, 18H6. Serial No. 2ll.543. (hicmodel.)

To MZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. EARLEs, a citi` zen of the United States,residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State ot' Colorado,have invented a new and useful Improve ment in Oar-Couplings, of' whichthe following is a specification. v

My invention relates to improvements in car-couplings; and the object ofmy improvements is to provide a railway car-coupling which shall besimple, durable, practicable, and automatic. I attain this object' bymeans of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhichv Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved device as thesamewould appear attached to the end of a ear, the pin being down and thelink in the draw-head. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of my improvedcoupling, showing the pin uprased. Fig. 3 is .a top viewof my coupling.Fig. 4 is a top view showing a longitudinal section of the draw-head.Fig. 5 is an elevated section of the draw-head, showing also the pin,trigger, and link, the link being about to enter the draw-head. Fig. 6is an edge view of the pin and trigger, the trigger being raised. Fig. 7is a side view of the pin.V

Fig. 8 is a view ol' spring, by means of which the pin is kept raised,thus preventing the coupling from acting when the link enters thedraw-head.

In the drawings, a a are two levers, attached to the end of the car bybolts a and clasps a2.

. Said bolts form the fulcrums ot' the levers.

The clasps are riveted or securely bolted to the car. Levers c c are ofsufcient length to permit of their being operated without going betweenthe cars. The inner extremities of levers a a contain the slots a?.

b is the pin, shaped as shown in the drawings. The upper extremity ofpin b is provided with a lug, b', containing a hole. The pin is attachedto levers a by means of a bolt, c, which passes through the hole .in lugb', also through the slots c3 in levers c. Levers@ also contain slotsa4, as shown in Fig. 3. Slots a4 are cut at right angles to slot-s as.The manner of uniting the inner extremities of the levers when the pinis attached is shown in Fig. 3. Slots c3 are large enough, so that theymove easily longitudinally upon bolt c. To the lower portion of pin b isattached the trigger d by means of the rivet d'. Trigger d moves easilyupon the rivet.

e is the ordinary draw-head with some modiieations. The hole c is madelarger, as the pin b is wider than the old-fashioned couplingpins. Thebottom of the insideportion of t-he draw-head is cut out so as to form aslight depression, e2. (Shown in Figs. 4 and 5.) The object ot'depression e2 is to allow the inner extremityof the link to fall, so asto raise the outer extremity suitciently for all practical purposes.AThis adjustment of the link is made by the use of levers a. The portionofthe pin marked b`l rests upon the link when the pin is down. Byraising the outer extremity ot' either lever a the inner extremity ofthelink is forced downward into depression e2. Pin b may also be adjustedfrom the top of car by use of a suitable rod or lever. The lowerextremity of the trigger when set Vrests in the rear portion ot'depression ci. ciently large to allow the trigger to revolve freely uponrivet el.

j' is a metal bar the extremities of which are bolted to the end of thecar, the central portion being bowed up so as to leave a small spaceunderneath, as shown'in Fig. S.

g is aspring, with the lower extremity turned outward so as to form ahook,as shown. The upper extremity of spring g is riveted to bar f.

lL is a movable slide or ring surrounding spring g and barf, and mayoccupy any position on spring g below its fastening-rivet. Vhen slide his near the lower extremity of the spring, as shown in the drawings, thespring is held close to the bar f throughout its length. It is held inthis position when not in use. Its use is ,to hold the levers a in suchaposition as to keep the pin b elevated when the link enters thedraw-head, when it is not desired that the coupling should oper-v ate.The position of spring g when in use, and also of clasp h when thespring is in-.use, is shown by dotted lines in Fig. 8. The levers a,each contain a hole, g', to receive the hooked extremity of spring g.The spring g is so placed that levers a must be forced down slightly inorder that hook gt may enter the hole g'. This slight downward pressureelevates the pin sufficiently to allow the link to The opening is sufli-ICO enter the draw-head and pass out without resistance, the triggersimply swinging back and forth but not catching the link.

In the operation ot' my improved coupling the pin b is raised by the useof levers a until the lower extremity ofthe trigger will rest in therear portion ofthe depression ci in bottom of the draw-head, standingwith a slight inclination, as shown in Fig. 5. The pin b is raised in avertical position by virtue of the slots a. The coupling is then readyfor use. As the link enters the draw-head it causes the trigger d toturn upon its rivet d', as shown in Fig. 6. The pin then drops throughthe link, as shown in Fig. 1, and the cars are coupled.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, l

sips

l. In a car-coupling, the combination of levers a, attached to car bybolts d, which form their fulcrums, said levers being provided .withslots a, bolt c, pin b, trigger (l, and a suitable draw-head,substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a car-coupling, the combination of levers a, provided wit-h slotsa and a and holes a, suitable fulcrums, a', bolt c, piu 71, and asuitable draw-head, substantially as described.

3. In a car-coupling, levers a, provided with slots a and holes a,suitable i'ulcrunis, a', bolt 3o c, pin b, a suitable draw-head, springg, clasp h, and bar f, substantially as described.

JOI-IN II. EARLFS.

In presence of-d J. B. VILLsEA, J Amas A. Howzic.

